600-bhp Club - Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano

The 599 is a pure dose of sports-car aggression, busy and charismatic.

Ferrari didn't have one of these 611-bhp beauties sitting around for us to test, so we borrowed one from a friend of the magazine who shall remain unnamed, yet should be canonized for his generosity, just as soon as we get another Italian Pope installed.

Here we go up slightly in price ($302,584) and complexity. Outwardly, the 599 is a classic Ferrari GT Berlinetta with a big 6.0-liter dohc V-12 up front, two seats, an elegant leather interior and a svelte body from Pininfarina.

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Underneath that '60s-clean aluminum bodywork, however, the 599 is a spear-carrier for the full range of Ferrari's F1-derived technology. The rear-mounted transaxle houses a 6-speed "F1-SuperFast" sequential box operated with paddle shifters at the steering wheel (a manual 6-speed box is also available). A transmission/engine management program shortens shifting time as the car is driven harder and faster. It can also be operated in a straight automatic mode, for less frenetic motoring.

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The semi-active suspension system uses fluid with magnetically varied (magnetorheological) viscosity for very fast response to roll, pitch and surface changes. It also has F1-Trac stability and traction control, with a steering wheel-mounted dynamic control switch with settings for Ice, Low Grip, Sport and Race. In other words, you may want to buy a shop manual now if you plan to restore this car in 40 years. There's a lot going on under the skin.

But the result is an intense, focused, pure Ferrari driving experience. This car may have GT in its name, but it's more race-car-like than anything here, except, perhaps for the Lamborghini. The 611-bhp (at 7600 rpm) V-12 makes big, linear power, but still accelerates with a high-pitched ripping sound as the rpm climb. Ride is moderately stiff, even in its softest damping position, and the car is low enough to scrape its underpinnings occasionally, but balance and feedback through the wheel are superb. At first the steering feels a bit darty, but — with familiarity — it merely seems quick and taut.

The paddle-shift mechanical box is a mixed blessing. On winding roads it throws big, whooping perfectly matched downshifts and quick, succinct upshifts — better than most humans can manage. Parking or maneuvering in city traffic, however, it's still a slightly clunky distraction. The Ferrari wants to go fast and doesn't understand why you're horsing it around town or jerkily backing into a parallel parking spot. It senses — as Kurt Vonnegut once said of a friend's Russian Wolfhound in Manhattan — that some terrible mistake has been made.

The 599 is a pure dose of sports-car aggression, busy and charismatic. And maybe a bit high-strung and nervous if you've just climbed out of, say, the Bentley. Both these cars make good standard-bearers for their respective national traditions. It's Mountbatten versus Pavarotti.